An external CGI mock-up of the 14th Serpentine Pavilion, which has a Chilean flavour

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2014 Smiljan Radic Studio

The commission has become a popular London haunt since launching in 2000

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2014 Smiljan Radic Studio

Radic has completed the majority of his structures in Chile, ranging from public to domestic buildings

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Hisao Suzuki

Radic's House for the Poem of the Right Angle Vilches, Chile (2010-2012)

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Smiljan Radic. Photo: Gonzalo Puga

Pite House Papudo, Fifth Region, Chile (2003-2005)

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Photo: Cristobal Palma

Copper House 2 Talca, Sixth Region, Chile (2004-2005)

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Photo: Cristobal Palma

Pite House Papudo, Fifth Region, Chile (2003-2005)

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Photo: Cristobal Palma

House A Vilches, Chile (2008)

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Smiljan Radic. Photo: Gonzalo Puga

House A Vilches, Chile (2008)

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Smiljan Radic. Photo: Gonzalo Puga

The Selfish Giant's Castle, Santiago, Chile (2010)

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Smiljan Radic

House for the Poem of the Right Angle, Vilches, Chile (2010-2012)

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Smiljan Radic. Photo: Gonzalo Puga

Mestizo Restaurant, Santiago, Chile (2005-2007)

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Smiljan Radic. Photo: Gonzalo Puga

A semi-translucent cylindrical shell, covering 350 square metres of the Serpentine’s serene scenery and appearing to rest on quarry stones, will be the design of Chilean architect Smiljan Radic this summer, creating the gallery's 14th Pavilion in a giant social and cultural space inspired by boulders and Oscar Wilde’s The Castle of the Selfish Giant.

Radic’s structure – where eight site-specific events, ranging from art and poetry to literature and music, will be held between July and September – will encompass a café and opportunities for visitors to interact with the shell.

Organisers will hope it repeats the success of last year’s cloud-like building, by Japanese architect Sou Fujimoto, which attracted around 200,000 people in one of the most popular pavilions since Zaha Hadid’s inaugural design for the lawn in 2000.

Radic sees his Pavilion as “part of the history” of “small romantic constructions seen in parks or large gardens”, comparing it to “the so-called follies” often seen between the late 16th and early 19th centuries.

“Externally, the visitor will see a fragile shell suspended on large quarry stones,” he explains.

“This shell - white, translucent and made of fibreglass - will house an interior organised around an empty patio, from where the natural setting will appear lower, giving the sensation that the entire volume is floating.

“At night, thanks to the semi-transparency of the shell, the amber tinted light will attract the attention of passers-by, like lamps attracting moths.”

The Serpentine Galleries Pavilion 2014 is at the Serpentine Gallery from June 26 – October 19 2014.

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